Yesterday I shot my first IPSC match, held at the NRA headquarters range in Fairfax. Going into the shoot I was very nervous, even though I’d practiced drawing from holster, double-taps, and administrative reloads at length. Happily, my fretting was for naught, as I shot well and safely (well, not so safe for the no-shoot target I drilled, or the ceiling light I took out with a ricochet, but other than that ;)). The scores aren’t posted yet, but I expect I won’t have the lowest score of the evening, which is all I was hoping for.

I shot the US Limited 10 division, because that’s the division the ROs told me I would be in. I think I’ll shoot US Production next month assuming my holster is on the approved list. There are other IPSC divisions where guys shoot tricked-out “race guns” using completely impractical gear which you’d never consider using for defensive purposes, but that doesn’t appeal to me.

This morning I called the NRA headquarters range to sign up for the IPSC pistol shooting competition being held there on Tuesday 15 April. Registration opened at 10 AM; I called at 10:45 AM and got the last available slot, on the 9PM squad! The RO I spoke with said most slots are usually gone in the first ten minutes of signup! Unbelievable. There are five squads (hourly from 5PM to 9PM), with roughly eight to ten shooters per squad, and all of them were full with waiting lists 45 minutes after registration opened.

On the one hand, it’s great to see such a large and active shooting community in an urban, Democrat-leaning area of the state. On the other hand, it means there are more of us competing for very limited shooting facilities. I read on Arfcom that the IPSC shoots at BRA are booked months in advance, and the NRA range always seems packed whenever I go.